The King's Wives: Part One
by Untouchable Lullaby
Summary: Tea is lady-in-waiting to Queen Ishizu. Serenity Wheeler is also one of the Queen's ladies until she attracts the eye of King Seto. Tea watches and listensand writes down all she sees in her diary. Tea is a witness to King Seto Kaiba's desire for a son that will tear his family and his kingdom apart. TeaxYami, KaibaxSerenity Other pairings included.
1. Chapter 1

_**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

_13__th__ August _

My name is Tea Gardener and I'm eleven years old.

Today is my sister Tari's birthday. My mother who I call Mama gave her a diary. Mama's real name is Mana. She gave her a diary because Tari is sixteen, the same age as Mama when she came to Domino with Ishizu of Ishtar, our queen. I am going to write a diary as well, only I do not have a proper one, so I have to write on scraps of paper. I will keep them at the back of my Latin book. So they will be private.

I am not jealous of Tari. Of course she must have nice things for her birthday. I gave her a beaded cap that I'd sewn myself, with some help from Mama. But I will have to wait a long time before I am sixteen, and I want to start my diary now. Mama began hers because she was leaving Egypt and going on a dangerous sea voyage to a strange country. She showed Tari and me her diary, with its close-packed lines of neat Egyptian writing. Mine will not be like that. I try to keep it small, tiny and neat but I never seem to manage.

Papa would laugh if he knew about my diary pages. He isn't unkind, but he laughs at everything, I suppose it is because he is the court jester, "Mr Tammy", as they call him. His real name is Atem. He says he has to remember that things are funny because if her starts to think they are serious or sad, he would lose his job. I want to be a jester, too, but I am a girl, so I have to wear long dresses that make it hard to jump and tumble as he does. I wish I had been born a boy. My brothers have far more much fun, learning archery and fighting with swords and quarter staves. Little Joey is not much good, being only four and not very strong, but Tristan, at seven, thinks himself quite a man.

Mama reminds me I am lucky. She and Queen Ishizu were childhood friends, so we live as members of the royal court, in whichever palace King Seto chooses his household. Mama and Papa both serve the King and Queen, he as the jester and she as Ishuzu's friend and favourite lady, and we children will be royal servants when we are old enough. Meanwhile, we ourselves are served by a great army of people who work in barns and in the yards and the smoky kitchens, tending livestock, washing clothes and serving food.

Yes, we are lucky. We do not put in long hours of work in the fields, digging and sowing and reaping. We do not cart dung or pick stones or undertake the horrible work of slaughtering and skinning and plucking. Our food arrives ready-cooked, served on gold dishes if the King is entertaining guests. We play music and sing and dance, and every summer we go with the royal party on progress to the other parts of the country while the palace where have spent the winter is cleaned. When we come back in the autumn, we find the soot gone from the walls and the grease and filth scrubbed off the floors. There are fresh rushed scattered in the dining hall, sweet to tread on, and the bed linen is washed and aired. I always love those first weeks after our return, while all the rooms still smell clean.

I would not have chosen to be a girl, but I enjoy some things that the boys do not share. Sometimes Mama lets me join her and Cleo de Brennan spend afternoons with the Queen. They talk together in Egyptian, which I understand though I am not good at writing it, and they do their fine embroidery. Mostly in Egyptian styles, white on indigo, as richly patterned as the bright sparkle of sunshine through dark leaves. It is very beautiful, but secretly I prefer the Dominish use of reds and purples, blue and browns and gold. The Queen has all these colours but she seldom uses them. Queen Ishizu is a wonderful lady. Although she is the Queen of Domino, she is so kind.

I wish I was better at embroidery. I try hard, but my fingers are awkward and sticky, and the thread makes itself into grubby knots. Perhaps I will find it easier when I am older. Meanwhile, I am always glad if Papa comes to join us, playing his lute or viol for the Queen and telling funny rhymes, for then I can lay the work down and listen. He can only be with us if King Seto does not need his services, for, like everyone else in the court, he has to obey his orders.

This morning he could not come. To my amazement Queen Ishizu asked me to play instead, and headed me her own lute. I was very nervous, but she smiled, and when I finished she clapped her hands. Papa must of told her I can dance as well, and that I make up my own stories, for she asked me to do these things again. She said I take after my father.

It is the greatest compliment she could ever pay me, for I would love to be like him. My brother Tristan would laugh if he knew I wanted to be a court jester, and little Joey would laugh as well without understanding why. Even Mama and Tari might be shocked, so I never mention it. But I dream it all the same, and then I feel warm and excited inside.

I must be careful not to get married, or I will never do anything but work as a wife and mother. Some girls have their first baby when they are only twelve, especially if they belong to titled families. They could never be court jesters, poor things.

Princesses have no say in choosing their husbands. The Queen's daughter, Princess Isis, is nine years old, two years younger than I am, but she was betrothed when she was six to the Holy Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III, who is a grown up man. He is the Queen's nephew, so I should not be rude about him – but he is such a funny-looking person. I saw him when he came here for the betrothal ceremony, and he has a long, pointed chin that sticks out so he can hardly close his mouth. He belongs to the Ergon family, and Mama says all of them rather look like that. Princess Isis was sent off to Temperance Castle last month, with a huge retinue of horses and servants, to live in a separate househole there. I don't know why.

Mama is calling me now, she wants me to get Joey ready for bed. I tell him a story every night, and he will not go to sleep without it.


	2. Chapter 2

_14__th__ August _

Tari told me why Princess Isis went to live in Temperance Castle. It's all to do with the King's son, Valon Royale. He is six years old, and his mother is not Queen Ishizu, she is Ebony Drake. The little boy was brought here to Thornton Palace in June, and there was a big ceremony while the King made him the Duke of Thornton and Berk. Then he was sent north of Domino to be head of a great household. Tari says the Queen was annoyed because her own daughter, Isis, had not been given any such honours, and she told Seto she was not pleased. In fact, there was a frightful argument between them. So Isis has now been given her own household, to be equal with her half-brother.

I hope she will like it. I would hate to be sent away from my home and family to a castle near Hermos, which they say is a very wet place. Thank goodness I am not a princess.

I saw David Gregory catch Tari by the waist yesterday and give her a kiss. She was very offended and pushed him away. David said he was only trying to wish her a happy birthday, but I don't think she believed it. David is one of the court musicians. He plays the lute well and has a good voice but Tari detests him. "He is pathetic," she said. "Like a trodden-on spaniel, always hoping people will like him. He has no spirit. He is just cheeky, and that is a different thing." I don't understand what she meant. I quite like David. He gave me a piece of sugar candy the other day.

The King was in good humour this morning. I saw him run his hand down Serenity Wheeler's back as she went through a door ahead of him yesterday, then he laughed and bent his head to kiss her cheek. Serenity works with Mama and Tari as one of the Queen's ladies, but she does not seem to mind being kissed. She smiled at the King, all gaiety. She has been away at Waverly Castle, her parent's home, for the last two years, and only came back quite recently. Tari says the King himself is in love with her, and he sent her away because she was having an affair with a young man named William Percy. There was quite a rumpus about it, and Cardinal Solomon, the King's close adviser, told William that Serenity Wheeler was not a suitable wife for a young man of a good family. Percy was sent off to marry someone else. And Tari says Ralph Stuart, the poet is in love with Serenity now.

I think all that is very silly. I love my family and I love the grey cat Noelle and the dogs that lie around when we eat in the great hall, waiting on bones and scraps to be thrown. I love horses, too, but poets and young men called Percy sound a terrible bore.

This afternoon the King's mood changed completely, and he flew into one of his rages. Papa had a terrible time with him. King Seto loves music and duelling and plays well himself, so he is usually easy to amuse, but something has upset him. Papa found out that the Pharaoh Ramesses has broken off his engagement to Isis. The King has taken it as a personal insult, so his temper has been explosive ever since the news came. The whole court is tiptoeing about for fear of being shouted at, even the Queen, who is always calm and wise, dissolved into tears.

_2__nd__ October_

I promised myself that I would write in my diary every day, but there have been so many thing to do. I practice my dancing and my singing, and Papa has given me a wooden flute, so that is a new instrument to learn, as well as the lute and viol. But I love the sound it makes, and Papa is a good teacher. My fingers are getting faster at finding the notes.

David Gregory still pesters Tari, though she won't have anything to do with him, and Ralph Stuart gazes with soulful eyes at Serenity Wheeler. But so does the King, which I find very cold. If she is to common a girl to marry young Percy , how can she cast a spell on the King of Domino? Everyone is whispering that he is in love with her, but I can't understand it. King Seto is married to Queen Ishizu, so how can he be in love with Serenity? I am sure the Queen must be upset about it. I asked Mama, and she sighed and said, "Poor lady – if only she had given him a son."

It is true the Queen is unlucky. She had child after child, but all of them died except Isis. I know babies die sometimes. Mama had a little boy after I was born, and he died before he was a year old. But at least she has the four of us. People say the Queen's last childbirth left her injured, so she cannot have any more children. The King is disappointed because he wanted a son who would inherit the throne of Domino. All this fuss about sons puzzles me. Surely Princess Isis can be Queen of Domino when King Seto dies? Her grandmother, Nefertari, was Pharaoh of Egypt, and she ruled the country, with some help from her husband. If Nefertari could do it, why not Isis? Mama shook her head when I suggested this. "King Seto is set on having a son," she said.

_15__th__ February_

There was a joust today. We watched from the stands, and Tristan was grumbling that he was not old enough yet to take part. I said, "But you will one day." He is lucky. I myself will always be sitting on the benches being a mere spectator.

When men rode today, they looked magnificent, as they always do. They were in armour, of course, but scarlet plumes flew from their helmets, and they wore full-skirted , embroidered tunics. Their horses were beautifully dressed as well, in embroidered trappings that covered them almost completely, just showing the lower part of their legs. There was one I especially liked, in a pale blue and silver.

When King Seto came riding out on his big white horse, a murmur went up because stitched on his tunic were the words, DECLARE I DARE NOT. All the ladies were giggling behind their hands, and I asked Mama what it meant. Her face turned quite pink and she said, "Never mind," so I asked Tari later. She told me the words meant the King has a new love, but he dares not say her name. But everything knows her name. It is Serenity Wheeler.

I keep thinking about Serenity ,wondering what it must be like to be loved by a king who already has a wife. I came face to face with her this evening as she brought a flask of wine to the Queen's chamber. She is hardly taller than I am, a slender wisp of a thing. I suppose I must have been staring because she asked what I thought I was looking at. She sounded very annoyed. It was no use pretending I hadn't been looking. I dropped a respectful curtsey while I thought fast, then said, "I was looking at you."

"And why, pray?" she asked.

I told her, "Because you are so beautiful." Papa has always said a jester must look innocent.

It worked well. "Bless the child," Serenity said. She patted my cheek and smiled at me. Then she went on to the Queen's door with her flask of wine.

She is not really beautiful but she is striking. She has a slim figure, but her face is pale with a pointed chin. Tari says she is quick-witted, with a ready retort to any courtier who makes a flirtatious remark, and the men like her for that. She has light brown eyes, as lively as a bird's. She makes me think of a magpie for some reason, it hit me. Magpies; neat and smart and attracted to things that glitter. And I suppose the greatest and glittering prize of them all is the king.

_19__th__ April_

King Seto hurled a jug of wine at Papa today, causing him a deep cut above the eyebrow. Mama said nothing, just bathed the wound and put some knitbone ointment on it. This afternoon we heard that the Seto has sent Ralph Stuart away on some diplomatic mission that will last for years. Tari laughed and said, "His Majesty must be getting desperate. He is not used to having his wishes refused."

Mama looked at her and shook her head. Neither of them would explain what Tari meant. But I met David Gregory coming from the Queen's chamber with his lute, and I asked him. He was happy to tell me. "The King wants Serenity to be his mistress, and she turned him down. So he is raging like a mad bull."

I know what a mistress is. It is a woman who lives with a man as if they were a pair were married, only they are not. I am glad Serenity refused to do that. It would have been dreadful for the Queen.

David laughed when I said this. "Serenity has no sympathy for the Queen," he said. "She is refusing to be the King's mistress for one reason. She wants to be his wife, and she will settle for nothing less.

That is nonsense , of course. Seto is married to Queen Ishizu, and the Church and Egyptian Worship do not allow marriage vows to be broken. They will be man and wife forever.


	3. Chapter 3

_23__rd__ August_

Mama says I am a woman now. I was frightened when I found traces of blood and ran to her because I thought I was ill, but she told me it's a very important part of growing up. At first I felt angry. Couldn't I have had a choice whether I wanted to grow up! I have always wanted to have the same freedom as my brothers, to run and ride and shoot, but Mama shook her head today, and said women have more important things to do. Perhaps it will not be too bad. The ladies of the court ride horses and fly hawks and go hunting, I suppose. In any case, I cannot change my life, any more than I can stop the winds blowing or the sun shining, so I will enjoy whatever there is to enjoy.

Tari has fallen in love with Jacob El Dine, the son of one of the Egyptian attendants who came over from Cairo with the Queen. She blushes and says it is nothing serious, but she cannot keep her eyes off him. He is handsome, slim and broad-shouldered, with dark hair and eyes. I can see she is very happy.

Poor Princess Isis will not be happy. The English king, William wants to marry again because his wife died two years ago, and he has offered his hand as a husband for Isis. The King is delighted and so is Cardinal Solomon.

The Queen, however, is not delighted at all. The English have always been enemies of Egypt, so she does not want her daughter to marry their king. Besides, Isis is still only ten, and William is even older than Pharaoh Ramesses. He could be her grandfather!

* * *

_20__th__ February_

Today is my thirteenth birthday – and I have been appointed a Lady of the Court, to wait on the Queen! In a way it is nothing new, as I have always helped Tari and Mama, but I feel very grown up, with my shoulder length hair braided and put up in a beaded cap, a present from Tari. Mama gave me a new dress, much more elaborate than any of my childhood dresses, and although I have always preferred boyish things, I must admit, this dress is a lovely pleasure. I especially like the slashed and embroidered over-sleeves that show the brocaded fabric underneath. They can be changed if they become soiled, as they are easier to clean than an entire gown. Mama gave me three pairs of sleeves, but my favourites are the pale-green silk ones, embroidered in blue and silver-white.

How strange it is to feel like a court lady! Suddenly I am included in the gossip instead of being sent away like a little girl, and I am starting to understand the way things are done. People who want a favour of the King used to ask Queen Ishizu to put in a word for them, but now they ask Serenity Wheeler instead, knowing she is the one Seto listens to.

The Queen ignores all this. Since Christmas I have been going out with her and some other ladies almost every day, helping her distribute charity among the crowds who flock to see her. Whatever her private worried may be, she is always serene and kind, and the common people adore her. They have probably hear rumours about Serenity, for gossip can never be stopped, but it has merely made them more protective of their true queen.

* * *

10th April

We have been at Olympus Court all through the winter. I love this place. The frosty daylight shines in through all its great windows, and it is a joy to walk through its grounds and see the spring flowers blooming.

A delegation in here from England to talk about Isis's marriage to the English king. Their ambassador said an extraordinary thing. He asked whether Isis really is the King's legitimate daughter. The courtiers who were listening dared not look at each other, they were so embarrassed. How can anyone doubt that Isis is the child of Seto and Ishizu of Ishtar?

Tari explained later what the ambassador meant. Apparently the King is trying to claim that he was never legally married to Ishizu. He found a passage in both the bible and Egyptian worship scrolls that says it is unlawful for a man to marry his brother's wife – and Ishizu was of course married to Seto's elder brother, Charles, for a few months. Charles than died, and Ishizu waited for years before it was decided that she could marry Seto, who had always been her true love.

Everything has changed now. Seto is trying to wiggle out of his marriage so he can take Serenity as his new wife. And the only way he can do this is to declare his marriage to Queen Ishizu illegal. I have never seen Mama so furious. "What a way to treat her!" she fumed, "And after all she has done for him! She ran the country while he was away at his silly war with England, she beat the French, she has advised him wisely for all these years, she has brought him the love of the people – and he will throw all this away from for some obstinate girl who will not even give into him? This man is insane!"

* * *

_17__th__ April_

Cardinal Solomon has assured the English that Isis is indeed the King's rightful daughter. I am glad. But I still don't want her to marry that old man.

Meanwhile, there is scandalous news. King Seto has asked Serenity Wheeler to be his wife! How _can_ he? Obviously he thinks he can dissolve his marriage to Ishizu, but that is hardly the point. His determination to marry Serenity astounds everyone. He has had mistresses before, many of them – we are all used to that – but to take this girl as his_ wife_ seems extraordinary. She is no more than a court servant, like the rest of us. Her family has distant royal connections, but whose has not? My own family cannot be called aristocratic – after all, we are not even Dominish. But Mama is from a titled Egyptian family, and her uncle was for many years the Egyptian ambassador. Serenity's father married Gabrielle Thompson, of an old titled family, but himself came of tradesmen. The whole court is buzzing with speculation about what will happen next.

* * *

_2__nd__ May_

The betrothal between Isis and the English has been agreed. There was a banquet last night, and the dancing snd drinking went on long afterwards. When the King was dancing with his daughter, he suddenly pulled off Isis's jewelled cap and let the straight length of her black hair fall free, as if to show off her beauty. Everyone laughed and applauded. Poor Isis, though. I would not be in her place, bound to marry an old man whom she has never met.

* * *

_17th May_

King Seto and Cardinal Solomon are meeting at Blackmoor with Shannon Warham, the Archbishop of Blackmoor, to talk about the King's marriage. Seto wants Cardinal Solomon to put the question to the Pope and the High Priest for their decision, but the Cardinal was horrified with the idea. He cannot refuse the King's request, though. Nobody can refuse the King anything – except the Pope and High Priest of course.

Tonight I asked Mama what it says in the Bible and Ancient Scrolls about a man who marries his brother's wife. She took down our own Bible and turned to Leviticus, and ran her finger down the pages. We stared at the close-printed lines by the candle's light. Most of the chapters were about sacrifice and burnt offerings, but then she came to the rules by which a man must live if he is to be pure. "This it is. It is the same in the ancient scrolls as well except that is in Egyptian, the Bible is in Latin," We read the words of chapter 20, verse 21 together:

_Qui duxerit uxorem fratis sui, remfacit illicitam, turpitudinem fratis sui revelavit absque liberis sunt. _

_And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing; he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless._

"You see?" Mama said. "Seto thinks he has sinned in marrying Ishizu, who was his brother's wife. And he fears that the Gods's punishment for that is to deny him a son."

I found the whole chapter very frightening. It showed a fierce and unforgiving God, greedy for blood and the smoke of burnt meat. Then I was scared again, this time by my own dislike of it. After all the Bible and Scrolls are holy. We do not have the choice to believe or not believe. As a mere human being, I dare not imagine how the Gods will judge our king, who only started to fear that he had sinned when his desires were moving elsewhere.


	4. Chapter 4

_**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything else for that matter.**_

_**A**/**N:** When it says 'Holy Fathers' it refers both to the Pope, who leads the Catholic church and the High Priest who leads the Egyptian Worship. I've have blended the two religions together._

* * *

_2__nd__ June_

The Pope and High Priest are in prison! Pharaoh Ramesses has been campaigning in the country of Zirmatria, and last month his soldiers went on a mutinous rampage and sacked the city of Copperiza. The men were unpaid and starving, we hear, but all the same it seems a terrible thing to do. The Holy Fathers are locked up in a fortress called Castel Aneglo, and the Pharaoh has don't nothing to free them, merely apologized. We all think he has lost control of his army.

Papa laughed when he heard. "So the King is out of luck!" he said. While the Pope and High Priest remains imprisoned, he cannot judge on the question of Seto Kaiba's marriage. And Seto cannot marry Serenity until the Pope and High Priest agrees that previous marriage is ended.

The King is furious, of course. If the High Priest or Pope cannot give judgement on his case, then somebody must. He is sending Solomon to England to set up a ruling council with the other cardinals in Wales. Can the really act without Zirmatian authority? Most people think it is impossible, but preparations have started for Solomon's departure. Andrew Welton will be with the party, and he is rushing about like a man demented, organizing horses and mules, baggage and equipment.

Mama is equally busy with the provision coats for the clerical gentleman who will go with the Cardinal, and we are all stitching frantically, even I who am no kind needlewoman compared with Mama. At least I can sew a straight seam nowadays. Serenity Wheeler herself sews with us, and her fingers a very quick and neat. Until this business is decided, she remains one of the Queen's ladies, of no more importance than the rest of us. But of course everyone watches her, and malicious gossip abounds.

* * *

_6__th__ June_

Seto had sent Serenity away to her parents' home in Waverly. I suppose he feels it is time to remove her from being no more than a serving lady.

* * *

_22__nd__ June_

King Seto went to see Ishizu today, and asked her to release him and retire from being queen.

Heavens, what a rumpus! The Queen wept like a thing demented, and screamed at him that she was and always will be his legal wife. Seto emerged from her chambers looking ruffled and angry. I do not feel much sympathy for him. From what Mama has told me. Ishizu went through many years of hardship and neglect before he married her. She is sending a messenger to ask her nephew, the Pharaoh Ramesses, if he will help her. Since Ramesses is responsible for imprisoning the Holy Fathers, he can presumably talk to him and perhaps persuade him not to dissolve the marriage. The messenger is one of the Ishizu's most trusted servants, a man named Dermot.

* * *

_24__th__ June_

Seto found out about the messenger. I expect one of the Serenity Wheeler's supporters told him. He sent riders galloping after the man all the way to Drover, but when they got there Dermot was already aboard a ship that sailed. So the Pharaoh will get to hear of his aunt's plight. I cannot imagine that he will do much about it, though. He is too busy fighting wars.

* * *

_16__th__ July_

The question of the King's marriage has come to the notice of the Dominish Parliament as well as the Church. Shadi, the Lord Chancellor, has told the King his marriage cannot be called illegal. Simon Ferta, the Priest of Worship, has said the same thing. Seto is not pleased.

* * *

_15__th__ September_

The English ambassadors are here for more negotiations about Isis's marriage. It was a state occasion, so Seto and Ishizu sat side by side to watch a masque performed by children, smiling as though nothing could be wrong between them. They still look like a handsome couple, though both are a little bulkier in the body than they once were. I think they are still fond of each other, for Seto visits his wife in her chambers quite often. Perhaps this business about Anne will blow over. I hope so.

* * *

_16__th__ September_

The Holy Fathers have been freed. Nobody knows whether the Pharaoh spoke to them on Ishizu's behalf, and meanwhile King Seto has sent his secretary, John to Copperiza. They say he bears a message asking the Holy Fathers to declare that Seto may marry other woman providing his marriage to Ishizu is annulled.

Cardinal Solomon is back from his meeting with the Cardinals in Wales, having achieved nothing. As the King's closest advisor, he does not expect Seto to send messages to the Holy Fathers without consulting him and he look very displeased.

* * *

_1__st__ January_

On this New Year's morning. Tari was married to her true love, Jacob El Dine, in the chapel here at Lockington. Mama wept tears of happiness and then she turned to me and said, "God willing, you will be next, Tea."

I am nearly fourteen years old, well old enough to be married, but I still find it hard to take the idea seriously. There are constant flirtations among the courtiers, and I suppose it would be easy enough to show interest in one of them, but they are so much the same as each other – well dressed, amusing, expert in all graces of court life, and delighting in malicious gossip. I can see why my mother married my father, a half Egyptian and half Englishman who lived by his own skills and little respect for any of them. And why should I hurry? I enjoy my music, and play for the Queen now – even for the King sometimes, thought his changing moods can be alarming,

As for Tari, she looked lovely in a gown of white silk sewn with small white pearls, and her dark hair loose. With Jacob beside her, handsome in an embroidered doublet of black velvet, she seemed utterly blissful. They will have their own room now, but they go on serving the Queen in the same way. Does marriage really make such a difference? Yes, perhaps it does – but I still find it hard to imagine.

_24__th__ February_

The Holy Fathers have agreed to let Solomon and one other cardinal hear the King's case against Queen Ishizu in Domino. The other cardinal will be Lorenzo Girad, who has to come from Copperiza. They say the poor man suffers from gout, so his journey is likely to be a slow and painful one. The case will not be heard for a while, sp perhaps the weather will be kinder by the time he sets out.

At Seto's command, Solomon has made a public announcement about 'the King's issue", as it being called. The common people in the cities and the countryside now know that their king is seeking to escape from his marriage to Ishizu. But their loyalty is to the Queen. I was with her this afternoon when she rode out, and all along the way crowds gathered to wish her success over her enemies. Seto is scowling and angry. Mama says he fears that Ishizu will stir a rebellion up against him. In the early days of their marriage he often turned to her for advice on what he should do, and he knows she is clear-minded and politically astute. She would do nothing to harm him, though. He is her husband and her lord, and she loves him.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Warning: Character death.**_

* * *

_4__th__ June_

The sweating sickness has come to Domino. It is a bad outbreak, and everyone has been thrown into a panic. The King is very afraid of the illness. I suppose because it killed his brother, Charles. He has ordered that we must be ready to leave at any moment.

* * *

_14__th__ June_

One of the court ladies has fallen ill with the sickness, so we will leave tomorrow. Serenity is still with her parents in Waverly, so she at least will be safe. I do not know where the rest of us will go, but we are frantically packing.

* * *

_15__th__ June_

Papa is ill. When we got up early this morning, he was shivering, although his skin was burning hot. He tries to tell us it was nothing serious, but his teeth chattered as he spoke, and it was obvious that he could not manage two days of riding. Mama will stay with him, but I have been ordered to go with the royal party. Jacob and Tari will be with us as well. We are almost ready to leave. My poor parents – I am frantic with worry about both of them.

* * *

_17__th__ June_

We are in a place called Tittenhanger. The King thinks we will be safe from the sickness here. My mind is constantly with Mama and Papa, left behind to cope as best they can. A lot of servants are still there, so at least somebody will fetch water and food for them, but I am full of fear.

* * *

_23__rd__ June_

A rider arrived in the middle of last night to tell the King that Serenity Wheeler has the sickness, but then he added the terrible, casual words, "And I regret to say Atem has expired. Your good jester, sire."

I burst into tears. The other ladies took me out of the room and tried to comfort me. One of them ran to find Tari and told her, and we wept together. She has Jacob, though, so she is not alone with her grief. It is late now, and the candle is almost burned out, but I cannot stop weeping. Papa seems so real in my mind, with his thin lively face, but I will never see him again, never again watch his quick fingers over the lute strings, never laugh at his wit, never marvel at a new story. The messenger said my mother was somewhat ill with the same sickness but is now recovering. I thank the good Gods for that – to lose her as well would be to much to bear.

Tari did what she could to comfort me. Papa has been spared the pains of old age, she pointed out. He will not suffer stiffness of the joints and toothache and the slow lose of his sight like most people do. This is true, and I suppose I am merely selfish in my constant weeping. The loss of my dear father is like an injury of my spirit, and the soreness of it goes on and on.

* * *

_28__th__ June_

We hear that Serenity Wheeler's attack was only a slight one, though her sister's husband, Henry Bolet, died of the sickness. Serenity had the best of attention. Seto's own doctor was out tending the sick, but he sent Dr Butts to her at once. This morning he despatched a rider with a haunch of venison to assist recovery.

We are packing to go back to the capital, but it will be a sad return.

* * *

_2__nd__ August_

We arrived back yesterday. Mama and I wept together. The room she shared with Papa seems so _empty now. I wish I could have said a better goodbye to him then the few rushed words before we_ had to leave.

Serenity Wheeler is no longer in the Queen's service. King Seto has given her an apartment of her own, a small place off the tiltyard in Malloy Palace, where he may see her whenever he chooses. Mama, in the midst of her own grief, is outraged at this new insult to the Queen.

* * *

_9__th__ October_

Cardinal Girad arrived today after two months of travelling. I thought that there would be a big reception for him, as he is here is assist Solomon in deciding on the question of the King's marriage, but this was not the case. He came into the capital by way of the river, on a barge that had no special decoration, and took to his bed at once. Such a long journey must have been agony for a man who suffers from gout.

It is more than three months since Papa died but I still miss him. I feel that I shall never be light-hearted again.

* * *

_13__th__ October_

Queen Ishizu spoke to me kindly today. "You father would not want to see you said, Tea," sea said. My eyes filled with tears again, but she told me something I had never thought of. "Every woman carries grief," she said. "It is like a fire, painful at first. But when you become used to it, you will find it a source of strength." I thought of how much grief she has known in her life, and made her a deep curtsey. "Gods go with you," she said, and blessed me.

* * *

_24__th__ October_

Solomon and Girad came to see Ishizu today. I know that they wanted her to enter a nunnery so that Seto would be free to marry Serenity, and she refused, but at the time I only heard the raised voices and the anger. The two men came out looking red-faced and annoyed, and went off to report their failure to the King.

I would not be in their shoes. Seto's temper has been usually shorts lately, as he troubled by an injury to his leg, the result of a fall from his summer. The wound is deep and has not healed probably, and he hates to be less than perfectly healthy.

* * *

_29__th__ October_

A letter was brought to the Queen this afternoon. She said nothing when she read it, but she looked very distressed. Mama told me afterwards that it came from the Dominian Council. They have advised the King to separate himself from Ishizu completely. They have also told him he should remove Princess Isis from her company.

* * *

_12__th__ November_

King Seto did a strange thing today. He threw open the palace's doors and invited the common people to come in. And they came, of course, with their smelly clothes and dirty faces, their baskets and bundles and babies and dogs, staring about them at the rich hangings and the gilded ceiling. The King entered and stood before the throne, wearing the robes of state. He told them of his need to have a son who would rule Domino after him, then he spoke warmly of Ishizu. Were he is to have his time again, he said that would marry no other – but he had to think of the future. He explained his case of taking a new wife, and the people stared at him in a mixture of respect and astonishment. Some of them nodded as he spoke, and at the end there were shouts of "God Save the King!" But they were sideways glances among them as they were ushered down the steps and back into the street.

Not even King Seto can make them like Serenity Wheeler. She is too close to their common blood to command their respect. Going out among the last of them, I heard one lady murmur to another, "She is nothing but a scheming harlot." And there are many at court who would agree.


	6. Chapter 6

_15__th__ November_

This is a dreadful day. The King has commanded that I must leave the Queen's service and join Serenity Wheeler's household. He is moving her from Malloy to a much grander house in the Strand, with a garden that runs down to the river. She has demanded that most of the younger ladies shall wait upon her, and I am among them. Tari was not chosen, so I will not even have the compaby of my sister.

I am full of resentment. It is a bitter thing to have to serve a fellow servant, no matter how she has risen in the world. I will have to leave Mama, too, for she, like Tari and Jacob, will stay with the Queen.

The poor Queen – her chambers will seem empty and dull without so many of the lively girls who have been like a family to her. She is 43 now, the same age as Mama. Cleo de Brennan is still with her but she is far older. A new staff of ladies will be chosen by Solomon and the King, and I know what that means. Their function will be to spy on the Queen and report back to their masters on whatever she says and does. I am glad Tari and Mama will be with her, even though I shall miss them.

I almost regret the years of spent learning my music and dancing, and the gaiety of heart that led me to laugh and make up stories. Look where it has led me! But I seem to hear Papa assuring me that music lasts longer than people do. He is right, of course. I will take up my lute and play for my own comfort, for there is no other.

**_Serenity's POV_**

My new ladies have been chosen and are on their way. I am excited! Now Ishizu is all alone with a couple true friends and my dear king's informants. One of the notable new young ladies is Tea Gardener. Her father was Atem, the court jester who died a few months ago, he was a funny man. Tea's mother on the other hand, not so much. Mana is one the original Egyptian ladies. Extremely loyal to Ishizu and stares at me in disgust. They do not understand! Ishizu will never give Seto a son but I can. The people hate me and call me vicious names, but one day they will love me because I will give them the future king. Tea seems sad all the time. I know she loves Ishizu but hopefully she will find a home here in my household. I pray that this divorce business finishes soon because I am Seto's one _true _love and I will be the_ true _Queen.

* * *

_Christmas_

After a few weeks in the Strand house, we have come here to Malloy Palace for the Christmas period. My lady Serenity is housed in separate quarters from the rest of the court, and we are perpetually busy, providing refreshments and entertaining her constant stream of visitors. The Queen is in a different part of the palace (with Mama and Tari, thank goodness) and she appears with the King when guests are invited, to give the impression that things are continuing as normal. I do not see much of these occasions, for I have been commanded by Her Ladyship is sing and play. My spirit of goodwill is sadly lacking.

* * *

_8__th__ January_

Christmas is over, and I am back at the house in the Strand. When I picked up one of Mistress Serenity's discarded dresses this morning I found under it a book by Owen Moore, called _The Supplication of Beggars. _I looked into its pages, and saw it was in favour of the Bible and Holy Scrolls being translated into English, so that any common person may read it. They say Mr Moore had to leave the country, and I am not surprised. To write such a thing is rank heresy. I made the sign of the cross and returned the book into its place. Latin and Egyptian have always been the language of Religion. What will happen to the authority of the Church if people start to take the mysteries of the Gods into their own hands? The Holy Fathers would never allow it.

The people of Domino are forbidden to read heretical books, yet the King does not mind Serenity flaunting them under his nose. Even worse, he reads then himself. There is one called _The Obedience of a Man, and How Kings Ought to Govern, _by Neil Down. I picked it up from Seto's chair the other day, knowing nothing of its content. Then I found out that Mr Down had actually translated the Bible and Holy Scrolls into English! What's more he says a ruling monarch should have the authority over the Church in his country – he need not to bow to either of the Holy Fathers.

No wonder King Seto finds it interesting. If he could make himself head of the Dominish Church, he would not have to ask permission from Copperiza to divorce his wife.

**_Serenity's POV_**

Seto was reading those books I told him about and he is very interested in what they have to say about the King and the Church. I also know that Tea found one of the books and was shocked. Earlier today she was with her friend and fellow lady, Frances Healy writing letter to their families. I learned that Tea has two younger brothers named Tristan and Joey. Joey being the younger child. Frances was writing to her family back in Scotland. Speaking of the Church, Scotland is not a Catholic or Egyptian Worship country, they are Orichalcos after they broke from the Church meaning Frances in is danger of being burnt as a heretic. I hope it doesn't come to that since I enjoy her singing and playing with Tea.

* * *

_18__th__ February_

Nobody will take the responsibility of deciding on the King's case against Ishizu. Girad nows says that he is not empowered to make any judgement without referring to the Holy Fathers – and the Pope is ill, we hear unable to attend to any questions at all and the High Priest cannot make the judgement on his own. Seto banged his fist on the table when he heard about this. He is furiously impatient, and although my sympathies are with the Queen, I can see how he feels. These endless delays are unbearable.

* * *

_20__th__ February_

Today is my fifteenth birthday. I have only told Frances who gave me a sketch of the river Noche , they are splendid. I have not told anyone else, for I have no particular friends except for Frances. I wish so much that I could have stayed at Malloy, with all my family together as we were at Christmas.

When the daily rider came from there this morning with message for Serenity, he gave me letter from Mama and Tariand some exciting packages. Tristan sent me a bird he carved from wood, and little Joey sent me a wrapped pomegranate. From Mama I got a pair of gloves, intricately worked with her beautiful embroidery, and Tari – dear Tari! – sent me a diary. She put a little note in with it, saying she thought I might like to write things down, now I am on my own in this place."A diary is not as good as a friend," she said, "but it can help at times when you are lonely."

She is quite right, of course. I wonder if she knows I have been keeping a diary all this time. My disused Latin book bulges with bits of paper I have tucked away in it. I think I will copy them into my new diary. It will be something to do in the dark evenings, and my writing is much neater then it was when I was eleven. Mama's letter said that the Queen sends her good wishes for my birthday. I was very thrilled by that.

She went on to say that the Queen knows of a document written by the former Holy Fathers many years ago when Ishizu was married to Seto's brother, Charles. Charles dies only six months after their marriage, and the Holy Father's document was written to give Ishizu to marry Seto. This means that Seto cannot possible prove that his marriage to Ishizu is illegal. It proves that the Queen is his true wife and that she has every right to remain so.

There are difficulties, though. The document is now in Egypt. It was among the papers of my great-uncle, Jordon De Benal, and when he died everything was returned to his home country to be looked after by the Pharaoh Ramesses. The Queen needs to have it in her own hands, of course, but Seto will not want her to possess such a powerful piece of evidence. If the Pharaoh sends the document to Domino, Ishizu fears it will be conveniently lost. Mama says she is hoping her nephew, the Pharaoh, will think of something else.

**_Serenity's POV_**

Seto sent me some lovely letters today. He sighed them 'yours forever' How sweet! My letters weren't the only things to come though, Tea received some packages from her family and a gift from Frances. I questioned Frances about this and she confessed it was Tea's fifteenth birthday. I went to wish her a good day but I stopped and looked. She was smiling and looking at what seemed a new diary. I envied her. My family is not like hers especially my uncle, the Duke of Gordon. Ambition and power is his middle name. I really want to start my family, I'm in my late twenties now and I am starting to wonder if Seto will get his divorce at all.


	7. Chapter 7

_27th March_

Although Serenity likes to her me play and sing, she does not confide in me at all. I can hardly blame her - she must know I still love Queen Ishizu. But her other ladies gossip, even though they have been picked for their loyalty to Serenity, so I hear a lot about the Queen's "obstructive attitude", as they call it, and the irritating inactivity of the Holy Fathers.

Holy Father Edward is said to be recovering from his illness, but he is perhaps not fully in charge of things yet for he has agreed that Solomon and Girad may call a court at Thornton for a hearing of "the King's great matter". They have been given the power to judge on the Holy Father's behalf.

Serenity and her friends are delighted, naturally. They are sure that the case will go against Ishizu, and Seto will then be free to marry Serenity. I do not share their certainty. The Queen is a shrewd and determined fighter, and the people of Domino are on her side.

All the same, things are difficult for her. Mama's last letter says the Pharaoh listened to her request about the old Holy Father's document. Understanding that the original might be intercepted and destroyed, he sent a _copy_ of it to London, but ensured that it was signed by the most eminent priests in Egypt, testifying that it was a genuine reproduction of the original. Surely that should have been good enough? But when Seto and Solomon saw it, they at once dismissed it as a forgery.

* * *

_20th May_

The cardinal's court really is going to take place in Thornton. We have to move my lady Serenity's household to Waverly for the duration of the hearing, as the King feels she should be away from London. I have little time to write - there is so much to be packed and organized. Serenity is agitated and upset, saying she wants to stay here. She seems nervous about the hearing. She knows how warmly the people regard their queen, and that if the case goes in Ishizu's favour that will be the end of her own hopes.

The Queen has chosen the lawyers who will defend her, They are the bishops of Ely and St Asaph, old Archbishop Peter of Dudley, and her faithful friend John Fisher, Bishop of Elmore. They sound impressive - but the King may have even more important men on his side.

* * *

_18th June_

Waverly Castle is a lovely place. It looks forbidding from the outside, with its sheer walls rising from a moat that runs all round it, but there are also beautiful gardens all around, and meadows that run down to the little river. Frances loves it, especially the dogs that hang around. The meadows are full of buttercups and cow parsley, and there is no sound except for the birds singing. It is so good to be away from the noisy centre of the Capital, with its clatter of hooves and constant rattle of wheels over cobblestones. The summers evenings are warm, and the scent of fresh-scythed hay is sweet. I am happy here.

So happy. I have met someone I love. His name is Yami. He was out with a couple of dogs early one morning when I was walking by the willow tress along the river. He smiled when he saw me and said, "Dabbling in the dew?"

I sang him a snatch of the old song as a reply: "Makes the milkmaids fair." And he joined in. He has a lovely voice, deep but very sweet, like dark honey.

We both laughed when the song came to an end. He has tri-coloured spiky hair, and his eyes are crimson. He smiled and said he didn't usually burst into song with strangers. I said I didn't, either. I was wearing an old dress, and the hem was all wet with the dew on the long grass. I hadn't even braided my hair, and it was hanging loose just above my shoulders, but he didn't seem to mind. "Midsummer madness," he said. "The sun hardly above the trees and here we stand, singing like a pair of cuckoos,"

I said, "Cuckoos don't sing, they just cuckoo," and he said it probably sounded like song to them.

I wish we were a pair of cuckoos. I'd like to fly away with him, and leave this court and all its scheming people behind. He is the blacksmith here at Waverly. Mostly he shoes the horses and doctors them for any injury or illness, but he makes things well; cart-springs, gate hinges, tools for the farm workers. I went with him into the smithy where he works. It was very cool in there, as the forge fire was not lit. He kissed me. I never thought I would want a stranger to do that, but Yami does not seem like a stranger. I feel as if I have known him forever.

I kept thinking about our meeting. I remember every word of what he said and what I said, and reliving it has warmed me all day. One of Serenity's ladies looked at me and asked, "Why are you smiling?" I said I didn't know. My cuckoo morning is not for sharing with people who gossip so maliciously about each other, and would do about me as well, given half a chance. Except I did tell Frances, she does not care for gossip anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

_21st July_

The King's case is being heard at Blackmoor instead of Thornton. Riders come

daily with messages for Madam Serenity. Most of them are in Seto's bold hand,

but today there was also a letter for me from Mama. Queen Ishizu, she says,

appeared just once before the court. She fell on her knees and made a passionate

speech, declaring her love for Seto and her belief in the truth of her marriage. After

that she left the court on the arm of one of her gentleman, and has refused to return.

they hope a judgement will be made in two days' time. I do hope so. And I hope they

decide in favor of the Queen.

* * *

_23th July_

The trial has come to an end, but nothing has been decided. Girad shocked everyone

by announcing that the Holy Fathers had changed their minds about allowing any cardinal

to give judgement. The ruling would have to be considered in Copperiza. And the papal court

in Copperiza enjoys a summer break of three months, so nothing further could

be done until October. The King was so enrages he stormed out of the court.

When Serenity read the letter that came from Seto this evening, her pale face flushed

with fury. She said extremely rude things about Girad. "And as to Solomon, he is nothing

more than a broken reed," she added. "Useless."

She has always hated Solomon, but since receiving the letter, she has been pacing about in

such a tempest of anger that none of us dares to speak to her.

* * *

_25th July_

Yami and I have met in the early morning for the last two days. I would like to see

him more often, but the household is in a turmoil of packing and preparation, and I

am frantically busy. The hearing in Blackmoor delayed our departure for the summer

progress, and Serenity is all impatience to set off. She is looking forward to it with

special excitement, as Queen Ishizu will be left behind this year. Seto has chosen

to travel with Serenity, parading her before the people as his chosen consort and

maybe his future queen, so she is of course delighted.

Yami will be with us, thank goodness. King Seto noticed that he cares for horses well,

and there is no time to send for his own blacksmith, who did not come with Serenity's

party to Waverly. I am so glad!

* * *

_14th August_

There is hardly time to write a word. We are constantly moving from one great house

to another. Downtown Abbey, Garnet, Stuart, Reading, Nambly - there seems no end

to the packing and unpacking. We will return to Malloy Palace in October, but meanwhile

we are royal travelers, welcomes by our hosts wherever we go.

The common people are less enthusiastic. Serenity, usually carried in a litter with the

curtains drawn back so she can be seen, waves and smiles to them, but they do not

smile back. Many of them scowl as our procession passes through their villages, shout

abusive words, then duck away quickly before they can bee seen and arrested. Their

opinion is very clear. To them, Ishizu is the only rightful queen.


End file.
